News

Aletheia House was selected as the featured non-profit for the first annual Birmingham Association of Realtors’ REALTOR FEST. The event, held on May 8, 2014, was organized by the Birmingham Association of Realtors Affiliate Counsel and REALTORS® Young Professionals Network. Over 300 REALTORS® and Affiliate Members attended.

REALTOR FEST was held at Avondale Brewery to showcase the Avondale neighborhood and highlight the exciting new developments in the Avondale business district. The Aletheia House’s Mother’s Hope residential facility has been a presence in Avondale for almost 20 years.

Aletheia House sincerely appreciates the support and generosity of the Birmingham Association of Realtors and the contributions they made to support the agency's mission. The event was a huge success and a great time was had by all.

In the February 2014 issue of B-Metro, The Magazine of Birmingham Metro Living, Photographer Eric Dejuan asks some of Birmingham’s homeless if he can take their photos—and hear their stories. The result is an informative, accurate depiction of the lives of many lving on the streets in the Birmingham area.

Aletheia House Executive Director Chris Retan was interviewed for the article and was given the opportunity to share information about the "Housing-First" model, an innovative approach designed to aid homeless individuals and families. Aletheia House is currently working to implement this model in Birmingham through the Hope for Heroes program, funded by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Click here to access the article on the B-Metro website, http://b-metro.com/the-street/14432/.

For more information about Hope for Heroes or to get help for you or your family, contact Aletheia House today, (205) 324-6502.

Aletheia House is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $1.007 million Supportive Services for Veteran Families Grant (SSVF) to provide supportive services to homeless veterans and their families in Jefferson, St. Clair and Shelby Counties.

The grant funds will enable Aletheia House to identify veterans who are just entering homelessness and keep them out of the emergency shelter system by providing intensive case management services and financial support. This is an innovative new service delivery model and something that the agency is excited to implement. Aletheia House is one of only three agencies in the entire state of Alabama to be funded in this grant cycle.

The SSVF program is part of an ongoing initiative of the President and the Department of Veterans Affairs to end veteran homelessness by 2015. Nationwide, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced that about $300 million will go to 319 organizations to help about 120,000 people with housing, housing assistance and other services.

Aletheia House kicked off the 2013 National HIV Testing Day with a special pre-celebration on June 26th. The event, "Parade Into Testing" began with a parade at 10:00 am and was followed by a block party at the Aletheia House Women's, Wellness, and Prevention facility located in Avondale. This year's National HIV Testing Day theme was “Take the Test. Take Control".

Amazing partners such as AIDS Alabama, UAB 1917 Clinic, Alabama Department of Public Health, Lawson State Community College, and Girls Inc came together for a fun-filled day that included free testing, snacks, and entertainment. AIDS Alabama brought their mobile testing unit and Pastor Patrick Sellers from Mount Zion Baptist Church served as the parade grand marshall.

Community partners continued the celebration of National HIV Testing Day by providing free HIV testing for the rest of the week at the Walgreen's on Clairmont Avenue.

National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) was first observed on June 27, 1995 and was established as an annual observance to promote HIV testing.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Aletheia House is the proud recipient of a grant from the Verizon Foundation to promote safe dating practices for young females.

The $10,000 grant awarded to Aletheia House will be used to introduce a new component called Safe Dates to its Ebony Pearls program, an existing HIV prevention and empowerment program for African American females ages 14-24. Safe Dates will consist of programming for current and former Ebony Pearls participants that focuses on healthy relationships and avoiding dating abuse. Because studies have shown that issues of HIV prevention and dating violence are closely related, the Safe Dates curriculum will address HIV and domestic violence prevention together to provide participants with the tools they need to make healthy, positive decisions about their futures.

The Verizon Foundation also awarded a grant to Classic Pearls, Inc., the non-profit arm of the Phi Iota Omega graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. a community service organization focused on providing service through cultural, health and educational activities in the Birmingham area. Classic Pearls is using their grant to empower survivors of domestic violence to become financially independent of their abusers by offering a series of educational retreats. Classic Pearls has partnered with Aletheia House to recruit participants for their program.

“We are proud to support the critically important work that Aletheia House and Classic Pearls, Inc. are doing in the Birmingham community,” said Jonathan LeCompte, president, Verizon Wireless Georgia/Alabama region. “We are particularly pleased to see these two organizations come together to help each other serve domestic violence survivors, as we know that when non-profits partner on initiatives it expands their impact and helps to build the network of resources that communities need to fight this epidemic.”